I want to make a fuel pump door by cutting a hole in the rear hatch area. First off is this a good idea or not and secondly I would like to know where exactly do I cut and how big should it be. I want to make a big enough hole where I will have no problems and then im going to tac it back down when I am finished or I might rig it up with some metal screws so I can get there again if the situation ever calls for it. Thanks for the help

I plan on doing this exact same thing. The 4th gen guys do it all the time and it works great. I'm just unsure if the measurements will be the same. Here is the link for the 4th gen ones if it will help you: http://www.gonicd.com/intankinstall/...mpinstall.html

3rd and 4th gen locations are different.if you do a search you will find a thread about 2 years ago covered in detail that is 3rd gen specific.
3rd gen sending units are closer to the back seat so the hole will need to be 3-4 inches foward but please search first,it has been a very long time for me

Thanks for your guys input, Ill research for that thread. I hope I can find it because I plan on doing it tomorrow. Ill post what I find

Personally, I think it's a bad idea to hack up your car like that. You could argue that you're going to do it "right", but to do it "right" the door you put back on has to be bigger than the hole you cut - meaning you're probably going to have to hack up two cars.

I don't recall hearing someone has started their car on fire doing this, but it's just a matter of time. Several guys have cut through their fuel lines while cutting the floor.

I agree with five7. It's totally retarded to hack up your car just to replace the fuel pump. Unless you're a cheapskate and buy inferior pumps, it's not like you have to replace one all that often. The hardest part is getting the exhaust system out of the way. I even thought ahead on that when I put on a new catback system and used stainless steel band clamps that don't crimp the pipe, and put copper anti-seize on all the slip joints, so even that part of the job was relatively easy on mine the last time I did it. I guess the point I'm trying to make is that I'd rather take a little extra time disassembling a few things instead of making the trunk floor look like something that Dr. Mengele got a hold of. I put a genuine Walbro 255 pump in last time around, so I shouldn't have to worry about replacing it again for a long time. It's your car though, go ahead and cut it up if you want. I have too much respect for mine to do that to it.

I agree with this guy... i just did the pump 2 weeks ago in my GTA i thought about cutting the floor and EVERYONE i knew said to cut the floor.... but my car is 1 of 259 cars... so i did the job the right way... and guess what it`s not as hard as i thought... everyone made it out to be so hard to do, that when i did it it wasn`t that hard just alot of work and i used a AC delco pump so i wouldn`t have to do it again... and the **** off is.. if GM just put a rubber joint on the filler neck like most cars have... you wouldn`t need to drop the read end. but it`s your car... i just have to much respect for my car too to cut it up just so i diddn`t have to drop the rear end.

Thanks for the input. Ill keep it in mind.

Make sure someone hasn't already done it. You'll be pretty pissed if you're like me and in the process of dropping the rear end only to look up and see that someone has already cut a hole in the car's past. Replace the o-ring seal around the pickup too while you're in there. You won't want to have to go back in because that seal is seaping and leaving a gas smell.

Well I decided to go ahead and check under the carpet and it was already done. Doesnt look like a hack job or anything but, It worked I guess. Thanks for all your input.

its not that diffcult to drop the tank

a few bolts and its out

pretty simple actually

sure its a little fun to get the tank back in there you have to get the right angle to it, but its not a nightmare

i think the issue is laziness vs safety

evne if you cut the access you will have to cut the lines from the sender unit to get the sender through the access you cut, the lines on the sender are really pretty long



cutting fiuel injection lines and splicing them isnt exactly a good thing to do

cutting the metal fuel lines isnt exactly the safest either, imho

each to their own however.,

good luck

Holy crap Randy...were ya trying to hang that thing from the ceiling?

I did my fuel change pump on 2 pairs of jack stands and a small floor jack.

That way I could drop the rear right on the stands, then lay it on the floor and slide it away, I could use stands to support the exhaust too. Cool part was, when taking out and replacing the tank, I could lay back and support the tank with my knees...both hands free for wrenching.

If you look close, you can see the skid marks in the dirt where he drug the cooler out of view before he took the picture!

The cherry picker is awesome. The old carpet for head padding is a nice touch too.